UNC forms Conte Center for multidisciplinary schizophreni...( reatment and possibly prevention of t...),Health

Conte Centers typically involve multiple research projects investigating severe mental illness. The UNC Conte Center will conduct four interrelated studies using distinct research methods. Researchers will attempt to identify critical brain events that trigger the development of psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

One study will use ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine prenatal and neonatal brain development in the children of women with schizophrenia, a technique being used for the first time in schizophrenia research. Children will be monitored from the second trimester of pregnancy through two weeks after birth. The brain development of these children will be assessed from birth until age two with standardized tests of motor and language development and memory and attention. Findings from this study may allow early identification of high-risk children, making it possible to provide early intervention and prevent or mitigate the risk of developing schizophrenia or other neurodevelopmental disorders.

In other UNC Conte studies, researchers will track the development of healthy brains from infancy to early adulthood and use state-of-the-art neuroimaging to examine brain function in high-risk adolescents and young adults.

The Center also aims to develop a model for genetic and cellular influences of the GABAergic interneurons, which regulate the neural pathways most closely associated with the development of schizophrenia. "The plain and simple reality is that we do not know how or by what mechanism the brain develops abnormally in individuals with schizophrenia. We hope to explain what neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms are disrupted before the disease is diagnosed," Lieberman said.

UNC Conte Center research will be conducted from September 2002 through July 2007. In addition to Lieberman, LaMantia and Gilmore, principal investigat
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Contact: Sheryl McKelvey
sheryl_mckelvey@med.unc.edu
919-843-3784
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
22-Oct-2002